Chopsticks, Chinese food and… Commencement? Vanguard University’s Department of Music held their annual Music Grad Dinner at the Golden Dragon on Tuesday, April 30 at 6 p.m.

The Music Grad Dinner is an evening dedicated to honoring the music department’s graduating seniors. The department’s 11 graduating seniors and all the full-time faculty members came to the dinner. Ten of the students will be receiving their Bachelor of Arts in Worship Studies and the one other student will be receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Music.

During this time of food and fellowship, faculty and students expressed their appreciation for one another. Students thanked faculty “for speaking into their lives,” the music department’s administrative secretary, Teresa Dovel, said. Describing the sort of advice the faculty gave to the seniors, Dovel said: “The thread that ran through the faculty was the idea that God has called them to the positions they will be in and He will equip them for those positions.”

As the Music Grad Dinner coordinator, Dovel has participated in several of these celebratory dinners. When asked what her favorite part of the dinner is, Dovel said: “Just the intimacy of it… We’ve walked life with them for four years.”

To find out more about Vanguard University’s Department of Music, click here.